FOOD PREPARATION 285 



the state of mind when she expects to enjoy or understand anything 

 scientific, so she does not seek out that class of reading. Meanwhile, 

 nevertheless, she is in charge of the vital development of the race. A 

 strange inconsistency ! Thus we see that in most cases she is not fitted 

 for her work and hence can have no sense of satisfaction in it. 



As previously stated the purpose of this paper is to show the con- 

 nection between woman's work in the home in preparing and serving 

 food for her family and the harmonious development of personality; 

 and also to indicate that as conditions now prevail in society she is 

 unable to make use of the accumulated knowledge of scientists as to 

 what is best for human welfare. 



With this purpose before us we need to keep in mind the image of 

 the home as an intermediate agent between the scientific knowledge of 

 what is best for human development, on the one hand, and on the 

 other the finished product of personality as we find it in society. Since 

 the home stands as the connecting link between these two — the knowl- 

 edge and the result, it must of necessity help or hinder the harmonious 

 development of the social personality or the individual in his relations 

 to his fellow men. Hence anything which will improve home conditions 

 is of great importance to society in its attempts at individual and gen- 

 eral progress. 



In the face of these responsibilities which center around the home 

 and the housemother in the vital, mental, moral and social care of her 

 family, because she is specialized by society for home work, let us con- 

 sider some of the results in the working out of this system. 



Statistics tell us that under the present home system one fourth of 

 all deaths for the United States during the year 1908 were of children 

 under five years of age. 16 The infant mortality of England was higher 

 for the three years 1896-1900 than for 1861-65. 17 Of the total deaths 

 in Iowa in August, 1910, about one fifth were under one year of age and 

 of these over 80 per cent, were from cholera infantum, a disease largely 

 preventable through hygienic measures. 18 



It is stated of all diseases of infancy between the ages of 2 and 6 

 sixty-seven per cent, may be prevented on the basis of our present knowl- 

 edge of sanitary measures, were they widely used. 19 



Statistics tell us that under the present home system, the prevalence 

 of disease greatly impairs efficiency. 



In the United States, 500,000 people are constantly ill from 

 tuberculosis alone, which is in a large measure a preventable disease in 



""Mortality Statistics," 1908, p. 8, Special Census Eeport, Department of 

 Commerce and Labor. 



17 Ibid., p. 9. 



18 Eockwood, Popular Science Monthly, March, 1911. 



10 Irving Fisher, ' ' Bulletin of the Committee of One Hundred on National 

 Health. ' » 



